Love Challenges
by lovefanfic4ever
Summary: One-shot. Sometimes people need to be challenged to do something. Even if they are great people. NaruXHina


Love Challenges

A/N: First fanfic. This story does not account for anything that happens later on in Naruto's plot. It's been made simpler (for my own conveniences, of course). Naruto is not mine, and never will be.

XXXXX

_Pearl white eyes looked into baby blue ones with a fierce determination._

_ The kyuubi vessel grinned his usual bright smile, pulled his thumb up and said, "Well, then, I'll see you in a week, Hinata-chan!"_

_ The girl nodded._

_ "Naruto-kun…" Hinata said, her voice so soft it was almost a whisper. The bright blond looked at the girl in front of him, waiting patiently for her to finish._

_ "Be safe." Hinata said, louder this time, then tiptoed and pressed her slightly cold lips to Naruto's soft, warm ones._

XXXXX

Hinata shot up from her bed, gasping a little. Her face flushed when she thought of her dream. She sighed. She can never be that bold…

The Hyuuga turned her head to look out the window. The sun was just rising, casting the outside view in red, orange, and yellow. Hinata quickly got out from her bed and dressed, rushing out almost immediately without informing the elders in her family.

When she neared the gates leading out of Konoha, she spotted 5 familiar figures. Sakura was apparently scolding both Naruto and Sai, Kakashi was still reading his Icha-Icha, and Sasuke was just leaning against the gate, staring at the noisy trio. Hinata smiled at the nostalgic scene.

Two years ago Sasuke was found at the brink of death by his teammates from Team 7. He was only able to be here because of Sakura's miraculous healing skills. After he was carried back to Konoha and interrogated about his years long absence, the village cheered and celebrated upon learning that Sasuke had severely injured Orochimaru, killed Itachi, and destroyed half of the Akatsuki. Though he was hailed a hero, he was still put under the watch of the ANBU for almost a year before Tsunade finally trusted him again and gave him a new leaf headband.

The person who was happiest with Sasuke's return was Naruto. They immediately went back to bickering and name calling when the Sharingan user woke up. Hinata was especially happy to see Naruto cheerful and back to his old self. He even went as far as making the "teme" take a photo with Team 7, with their additional team member, Sai. After Sasuke was fully healed, the male members of the team went on to join the ANBU while Sakura became a full time medical nin. In a few minutes, Naruto and Sasuke were leaving for another spying mission to the Hidden Village of Sound.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto bellowed when he noticed the pearl eyed girl. He was waving frantically for her to join them while Sakura continued to drag his collar.

"Hinata." Sakura greeted when said girl landed neatly on the ground. Kakashi raised his book up and Sasuke grunted to acknowledge the girl.

"Hi, Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan, Kakashi-san, Uchiha-san, and Sai-san." Hinata addressed. She then directed her attention to Naruto and Sasuke. "Are the two of you ready to depart?"

"Yeap!" The blond responded, "All ready to go!"

Kakashi snapped his book shut. "You should leave now. Remember to report back to the Hokage, alright? First thing you do when you get back. NOT going to get ramen. Understood?"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto protested, "I'll starve if I don't eat first!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he pushed himself off the gate, then pecked Sakura's lips before hauling his pack. Hinata stared in envy. Sakura has been with Sasuke since the Uchiha returned. She didn't know exactly how they got together, but it has been rumored that Naruto challenged Sasuke to something (which no one except the two best friends know), and things ended up the way they were.

"Come back safe!" Sakura said to Sasuke as a smile plastered onto her face. The stoic boy nodded his head and started to walk out the village. Still the same stoic guy, Hinata thought, even though he opened up and has a girlfriend now.

Naruto turned to Hinata and grinned his usual bright smile, pulled his thumb up and said, "Well, then, I'll see you in a week, Hinata-chan!"

The girl nodded. Her heart was pounding furiously as she remembered her dream and felt a sense of déjà vu. The thought caused her face to turn bright red. Her fingers anxiously started to grip at each other.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata said, her voice the same soft tone as it was in her dream. The blond boy replied, "Yeah?"

"Be safe!" She said, louder this time, her body trembling and her head lowered.

"No problem! And when I get back, you need to treat me to ramen, alright? It's a promise!" The blond exclaimed, oblivious to the girl's anxious state, then shouted and ran off when he saw Sasuke far down the road. "Teme! You didn't wait for me!"

The remaining four figures laughed as the two started to bicker again. However, Hinata inwardly sighed at the different "ending".

XXXXX

**- 6 days later -**

The duo that had set off on their mission 6 days ago was finally nearing their beloved village. The mission had gone relatively smoothly; they hadn't discovered any situation or gained any information indicating that the Leaf Village was threatened. For that they were grateful.

Sasuke glanced at the slightly more hyper than usual Naruto sitting by the campfire, devouring his dinner. He had his stupid grin on, and was happily humming an unfamiliar tune.

"Oi, dobe." Sasuke called out.

"What, teme?"

"Why the hell are you grinning like an idiot?"

"That's none of your business! And I'm not an idiot!"

Sasuke smirked. "Thinking about Hinata treating you to ramen?"

Naruto suddenly choked on his rice. He coughed repeatedly, downed his water, and stammered out with a bright blush, "Wha… What are you talking about?"

The Sharingan user rolled his onyx eyes at the fox boy's weak attempt at denial. "Shut up, dobe. You know what I'm talking about. When are you going to tell her anyways? It's been quite some time since you realized that you liked Hinata."

The blond looked down, his face as red as a tomato. He was suddenly quiet as he stared at his unfinished dinner. "I… I don't know if I should tell her… I mean, she's the family head of the Hyuuga noble family! And… I'm just… Uzumaki Naruto…"

Sasuke stared at Naruto long and hard. Naruto, curious as to why it was so quiet, looked up to see Sasuke's onyx eyes glaring right into his baby blue ones. He shifted uncomfortably and blurted out, "What, teme? Stop staring at me like that!"

The Uchiha stood up and made his way over to his best friend without a word, all the while keeping his eyes glued to Naruto. When he was right in front of him, he smacked him hard over his head. Naruto howled in pain. "Hey! What the hell was that for?!"

"That's for you being stupid," Sasuke replied as he sat back down, "Remember what you told me when I just came back? About Sakura?"

Naruto nodded. After Sasuke had healed and they had joined ANBU, Naruto had forced Sasuke to admit that he liked Sakura. The blond boy tried to get the Uchiha to confess to Sakura, but he was adamant about not budging. Sasuke thought that he wasn't good enough for Sakura because of all that he had done, and that she deserved better. It took Naruto's challenge to get him to finally confess.

"That applies to you as well," Sasuke said, "If you don't confess to her, you're going to lose all your pride as an Uzumaki. Just like what you told me. Then you don't deserve to be Hokage, or even dream of being Hokage."

Naruto's head shot up. "Wha - !"

When he saw Sasuke's smug smirk, he growled, "Fine! I'll do it!"

_Too easy._ Sasuke thought, shaking his head.

XXXXX

Hinata squirmed nervously in her seat. She forced herself to keep her head up as she faced every single member of her family, including all the branch members. Many pairs of pale eyes similar to her own stared back at her with unwavering precision, and the girl swallowed hard, preparing herself for what she was about to do.

Three years ago, when Hinata was only 15, her father died without being able to specifically name a successor for the Hyuuga clan. She was therefore forced to take over the clan, and her efforts to transfer the position to her 10 year old sister Hanabi were rejected. Now, as she glanced to the side at her older cousin Neji, her eyes filled with determination. Her oblivious cousin looked at her in confusion. Hinata gave him a small smile. The hate between them had long dissipated, and the two of them had become quite close through the years, with their numerous missions together.

"I have a proposal to make."

An elder from the branch spoke up, his tone not betraying any emotion. Hinata, however, could hear the underlying irritation of the man's voice. "What proposal is this that requires even us, the branch family, to be present at this assembly so early in the morning, Hinata-sama?"

"A proposal that will affect all of the Hyuuga family."

Whispers started to erupt between the members. Hinata slammed the table with her hand, hard enough to gain attention, and hard enough to silence the people in the room. She took a deep breath and said, "I propose for my position as the Hyuuga family head to be transferred to my cousin, Hyuuga Neji."

Collective gasps erupted from the family members as they launched into discussion. Neji was staring wide eyed at the cousin that he had come to respect. She was no longer the timid and shy woman in battle; she had developed a fierceness throughout the years, and this fierceness was exactly what she had used to lead the Hyuuga clan for the past 3 years.

The Hyuuga clan leader once again slammed her palm upon the table to restore order to the room, and the noise died down. One of Hinata's many uncles spoke up. "What is with this sudden proposal for change? Hinata-sama, you have been heading us for 3 years, and things have been progressing smoothly. I do not understand your reasons."

The girl replied, "Yes, things have been going smoothly, but this has been done only with the assistance of Neji-nii-sama. He was the one who did the detailed search for many of the issues of the clan, and he was the one who came up with many decisions for our clan. My only role was to execute these decisions. I believe that he is fit for the responsibilities of this position, and that he will be able to perform the duties of clan leader way better than how I performed the duties."

"Then what is to be of you after the transfer of positions, if it should happen?" Another member questioned.

"I will continue to assist Neji-nii-sama if he so desires. If not, then I will return to my duties as a shinobi of Konoha and continue to receive missions like any other jounin."

Another member spoke up. Hinata mentally sighed as the onslaught of questions continued. "Why wait until now to make this decision?"

Hinata answered the question that she knew would definitely be brought up. "I was making preparations for this transfer of positions. All relating documents and issues have now been settled, and it has been made certain that the transfer will be able to go smoothly without a delay in the procedures and workings of our clan."

The Hyuuga clan members seemed to sink into a newfound silence as they mused over Hinata's answers. The girl glanced over to her cousin, who had been staring at her since her announcement of the proposal. She looked back at him straight into the eye and tried to convey her firm beliefs. Her cousin, ever the smart one, seemed to understand her reasoning behind her actions. Hinata was not prepared to lead the rest of her life the way she had for the past 3 years. Also, Neji knew that she had been thinking about a certain blond shinobi as she made her decision. He smirked and nodded in response to his cousin's look. She seemed to breathe in relief and smiled.

The attention was once again directed to yet again another elder. He stood up and said in a clear, sharp voice, "Enough contemplating! Now, we will vote on whether or not we should pass Hinata-sama's proposal. All those who believe that this proposal will, as Hinata-sama has said, benefit the Hyuuga clan, please signify your consent!"

Hinata watched enthusiastically as the majority of the people in the room stood up. Those who remain seated with scowls on their faces were the ones who wanted the power of the Hyuuga clan to stay within the main branch of the family. Hinata felt sorry for disappointing her father, but after discussion with her now 13 year old sister, both of them decided that their clan would be better off with their cousin heading it.

After the majority of the vote was made obvious, the elder declared, "Very well. From this day, this hour on, Hyuuga Neji will lead us as the new head of the Hyuuga clan!"

All the members of the assembly stood up and bowed to their new leader in respect. Hinata smiled again as she felt the burden lift from her shoulders.

XXXXX

It was nearly noon when Naruto and Sasuke neared the village gates. They were greeted by the gate guards as they entered, and they immediately set off towards the Godaime's office. Naruto complained all the way about getting lunch first, so much that Sasuke had to smack his head to get him to shut up and just do the job. After their report, the two of them were dismissed, and the stoic boy set off to find his cherry blossom while Naruto set off to find his "target" of Sasuke's challenge. They agreed to meet at Ichiraku 15 minutes later.

Naruto spotted Hinata 5 minutes later. She was animatedly talking to Neji in front of their mansion, and he couldn't help but notice that the girl looked happier, like she was glowing. He shook his head. It could have been his infatuated mind playing tricks on him, since he hasn't seen the girl for a whole week!

"Oi~! Neji, Hinata-chan!" His voice echoed and resonated around the area. The Hyuuga cousins both turned and greeted the loud blond.

Hinata shyly smiled and said, "Naruto-kun, you're back early! I thought you wouldn't be back until the afternoon!"

"Yeah! Everything went real good, so Sasuke-teme and I got to return earlier! Oh, right! Talking about teme, I'm supposed to meet him and Sakura-chan at Ichiraku in 10 minutes, you two wanna come?"

"Ok," Hinata replied, "I'm supposed to be treating you, right?"

Neji raised a brow and looked at Hinata skeptically, as if mentally asking his cousin, "Oh, you two have a date and you didn't tell me?" The look made her blush and she shook her head, wordlessly replying, "I'll tell you later."

The newly made clan head nodded his head, then said to Naruto, "You two go on ahead. I have some matters that I must attend to." With that said, he patted Hinata on the shoulder and entered the mansion.

XXXXX

The kyuubi vessel and the ex-Hyuuga clan leader sat on the stools of Ichiraku, slurping their ramen. They were animatedly chatting about random topics (though it was mostly Naruto talking and Hinata listening). After a slight pause of Naruto ordering his third bowl of ramen, he asked the question that had been on his mind since he saw Hinata earlier.

"Hey, Hinata-chan… You seem happier than usual today. Did something good happen?"

The girl smiled. She seemed to be doing that quite a lot lately, but since it was a good thing she didn't mind. She nodded her head, which had Naruto turning his head to face her with an interested and curious expression while he continued to slurp his ramen.

"This morning I had a meeting with the family, and as of today, I am no longer the head of the Hyuuga clan. Neji-nii-sama now is."

The whisker faced boy's eyes widened to the size of his ramen bowl, and his hand froze, leaving his chopsticks between his bowl and face, with noodles dangling from it. This awkward silence remained for a while, and was only broken when the boy quickly sucked the ramen into his mouth before opening them again to speak.

"WHY? What happened? Did they force you to do this? I'm so going to kick their butts if they did!" The blond jumped up, his ramen forgotten, and got ready to rush out of the small shop. It took all of Hinata's strength to stop him from doing exactly that, and when she managed to pull the boy down back onto the stool, she cleared the misunderstanding.

"Naruto-kun, I'm the one who proposed to transfer my position to Neji-nii-sama." Seeing the boy's confusion, she elaborated, "I didn't want to be the head of my clan anymore. I don't think I'm ready to carry the responsibility, and I honestly believe that Neji-nii-sama would be more suitable. Now, I can concentrate on going on missions!"

Naruto seemed to understand, for his large grin was again present. "That's great, then, Hinata-chan!"

Just then, Sasuke and Sakura entered the booth and took the empty seats next to Naruto. Sasuke grunted as usual while Sakura cheerfully greeted her blond friend and the Hyuuga. The two girls immediately started to chat away. Naruto, seeing as he couldn't join in the conversation, turned to his best friend.

"Teme, you guys are so late! What have you been doing?!"

The Uchiha smirked. "Something that you'll be doing often when you complete my challenge."

The blond blushed. "Shut up, you pervert."

"So, when are you gonna do it?" Sasuke asked with his brows raised.

The blond scowled. "Soon enough."

"You better, oh great Hokage."

"Shut up, teme!"

XXXXX

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously as he continued to walk next to the pale eyed girl. He cursed Sasuke for forcing him to walk Hinata home; Naruto regretted challenging the Sharingan user to confess to Sakura in the first place. After they had finished their lunch, the group of four had gone on a walk to the training grounds for a light spar. The spar lasted until dawn, and Naruto now found himself walking towards the Hyuuga mansion.

Hinata turned to look at the fidgeting blond beside her. She wondered why he looked so uncomfortable and slightly panicked inwardly when she thought of the possibility that she was the one bugging him.

"Um… Naruto-kun?"

The blond turned. "Yeah?"

When the girl didn't talk but continued to look at the floor, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Are you… Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Wha?" The blond exclaimed, startled, "No! Of course not! Why would you think so?"

"Because you've been scratching the back of your head since we separated from Sakura-chan and Uchiha-san, and you only do that when you're uncomfortable or nervous."

Naruto laughed sheepishly and unconsciously started to move his hand up to his head again. He caught himself and quickly lowered it. "It's nothing! I mean, it's my problem, so you don't worry about it! I'm… nervous because… um… I want to… no, I need to tell you that, um…"

The poor flustered boy stammered all the way through his small speech, causing Hinata to giggle at his antics. Seeing Hinata giggle calmed his nerves, and he tried again. He squeezed his eyes shut and shouted out, "Hinata-chan, I wanted to tell you that I li –"

"Hinata-sama!" Said name cut Naruto off from finishing his sentence and caught the attention of the girl he was facing. The maid standing in front of the Hyuuga mansion ran towards the duo in a hurry. After she regained her breath she spoke. "Hinata-sama! Neji-sama has asked for your presence upon your return to the mansion immediately!"

Hinata nodded and said a short goodbye to Naruto before she rushed off with the maid in lead.

The Hokage-wanna-be stared dejectedly after her.

_I almost said it!_ He thought. _Argh! Why does the timing have to be so bad!_

XXXXX

Looking at Sasuke's famous smirk, Naruto felt the enormous urge to punch him in the face and wipe off the smirk. He growled lowly before sitting down next to his best friend and ordering a bowl of soy sauce ramen for his lunch.

"Didn't go well? And here I thought I planned everything for you yesterday." Sasuke asked, though to Naruto it sounds more like he was provoking.

"Shut up! I was about to tell her when I was interrupted, ok!? And then she left in a hurry, so I didn't get to tell her!"

"Hn. Fine. At least you tried."

The two of them ate in silence before the onyx eyed boy broke it.

"You know what? I'm giving you a deadline. Do it before tomorrow, noontime, or you lose."

And for the first time in his life, Naruto didn't finish his ramen as he rushed out of Ichiraku.

XXXXX

"Man, where is she?" Naruto murmured to himself as he walked his sixth lap around Konoha. He had been looking for the shy Hyuuga girl since Sasuke had given him a time limit, but he was in no luck. She wasn't at the Hyuuga mansion, which was the first place he went to look for her. Neji had said that she went out to train with Sakura, Ino, and Ten-Ten. But when he had found the girls chatting away at the training grounds, all sweating from the workout, Hinata was nowhere in sight. From there on he had been circling the village in hopes of finding the girl. In the end, Naruto gave up and headed towards the waterfall where he first trained with Jiraiya to do some training of his own.

As he made his way through the densely packed trees towards the waterfall, he recalled the time when he went on the mission with Kiba, Shino, and Hinata to find the scent bug. His mind went to the night when he saw the beautiful figure dancing before the waterfall, the water spraying and splashing around her. Naruto sighed. He shouldn't have scared her away. Then he thought, _Maybe I was just dreaming_.

The sky was already dark when he exited the dense forest. As the blond boy walked towards the waterfall, he felt an active chakra signature. He immediately went on defensive position and slowly inched towards the waterfall, the source of the signature. He gasped upon seeing the owner of the chakra signature, then covered his mouth and ducked under a bush.

_It's her!_ Naruto thought excitedly, then frowned in confusion. _But wait, why is she here, in Konoha?_

He turned to look at the figure, then slowly approached her so that he wouldn't scare her away like he did last time. As he neared, the figure started to seem familiar to Naruto; the signature, the figure, the hair, and the way her movements were flowing.

Realization hit him.

"Hinata?"

The figure jerked from her elegant dance and turned towards Naruto. When he finally walked out of the shadows, he was close enough to see the moon light up Hinata's delicate, pale, and nervous features. She was wearing a form-fitting black outfit that was her usual training uniform, and she seemed to glow as the reflection of the moon in the water hit her. Naruto looked at her, mesmerized. He felt his heart hammering away inside his chest, and to him, it felt like the world melted away, leaving only the two of them left.

For a moment, Hinata stared at the newcomer, confused. But when she finally realized who was standing in front of her, her pale features turned to a heated red. The shy girl started fidgeting, playing with her fingers and bouncing on her heels.

"Naruto-kun…"

The soft voice that came from the beautiful girl broke Naruto out of his daze. He flushed and stammered, "Hinata! Such a coincidence to see you here! What were you doing? Uh… never mind… I know, I saw! You were amazing, you know! When did you come here? I was trying to find you since lunch… Um… I – "

The kyuubi vessel's rambling was stopped by a soft, moist finger on slightly dry lips. Naruto gulped when he felt the tender finger, and looked down at Hinata. She was slightly blushing and giggling at him, and once again his nerves calmed down. He wondered why she had that effect on him.

"Why were you looking for me?" Hinata asked, her face both confused and curious.

Naruto tensed.

He looked straight into her pale eyes, and when he saw the sincerity and honesty in them, he thought, _I can't miss this girl. I can't let her slip away. Just like Sasuke-teme said, if I don't even have the courage to confess my feelings to Hinata, how am I supposed to be Hokage?_

He took a deep breath. _I can do this._

"When I was on a mission with Sasuke, he challenged me to do something that I didn't have the guts to do before. I thought about doing it before, but I was a coward. But now, I'm going to do it."

"Do what?" Hinata questioned, her face confused.

"This."

With that said, Naruto leaned down and kissed Hinata. The girl's eyes widened and she jerked a little bit, surprised at the boy's sudden action. Her face blushed red and she panicked. But then she relaxed, closed her eyes, and grabbed onto Naruto's sleeve, returning the kiss. Naruto's arms automatically slid behind Hinata's slim waist and back, pulling her closer.

When the two broke apart, they were both blushing and panting for air. Naruto placed his forehead on Hinata's and spoke lowly, "I like you."

Hinata smiled. "Me too."

Their eyes seemed to sparkle as they continued to gaze into each other's eyes.

XXXXX

**- 8 years later -**

"Neji-oji-sama!" A child yelled out and dashed towards the imposing figure of the Hyuuga clan head. The moment Neji heard the child, his face sported an almost undetectable smile before turning around and kneeling down just in time to catch the energetic child with wild blond hair. The clan elders around Neji frowned disapprovingly at the behavior he was showing, but one glare from the man told the elders that they were not going to stop him from spoiling the child in his arms. As Neji stood up, a tall blond who was holding onto the waist of a girl with long, flowing blackish-blue hair walked up to the Hyuuga elites.

"Hey, Neji! Nice to see ya! Where's Ten-Ten?" Naruto bellowed with his usual loud voice.

Hinata gently smacked her husband's arm before bowing apologetically to her older cousin. "I'm sorry, Neji-nii-sama. Please excuse Naruto and Minato's behavior. They're just too enthusiastic to visit you."

Neji waved her apology off and lead them to the indoor training grounds in the mansion. By this time, the elders had already dispersed; they knew perfectly well that they were not to disturb the clan head when his cousin came to visit with her husband and their child, Minato.

It had been a shock to the Hyuuga clan when Hinata came home one day to announce that she was getting married to Uzumaki Naruto. Though Naruto was already a respectable shinobi then, the Hyuuga elders still thought that he wasn't good enough for someone from the Hyuuga clan, not to mention the previous heiress and clan head. In the end, it was Neji who forced the elders to agree and provide their consent. That was 6 years ago. Now, the elders no longer have any objection towards Naruto, who was the Rokudaime. One year after their marriage, a healthy baby boy was born and named after Naruto's father, the Yondaime, Namikaze Minato. The boy inherited his father and grandfather's wild blond hair and his mother's family bloodline, the Byakugan.

The elders were thrilled to learn that the child inherited the Hyuuga bloodline and had planned to train the child. Minato's parents had strongly objected to it, but they couldn't do anything about it. However, when Neji found out that his beloved godson was being scolded during training, he personally made sure that whoever scolded him was severely punished, and that he would be the one training the child, along with Naruto.

"Ten-Ten is with Sakura right now. Apparently, Sasuke wanted to train with Lee, and they asked her to take care of Sakura."

Neji and Ten-Ten had married the year Minato was born, which is one year after Naruto and Hinata's marriage. Many people were surprised to find out that the two ended up being together, but they accepted it rather quickly. Sasuke and Sakura had married one year before Naruto and Hinata. Sakura was currently pregnant with Sasuke's first child. People always thought it rather strange that they didn't have children until now, but when they think about the stoic Uchiha boy, they guessed that it couldn't be helped that he wanted to spend more time alone with his cherry blossom.

"Neji-oji-sama, will you train me today? I mastered kunai-throwing the other day! Even though Dad said that it was only two, Mom said that I have a good aim!"

Neji nodded and dropped the child to his feet when they reached the empty field. The child ran forward and started jumping up and down for the 3 adults to follow. Neji turned around and spotted the parents looking lovingly at their child. He smiled and looked back at the child who was making his way back towards his parents.

_I hope one day, I'll have a child of my own with Ten-Ten too._


End file.
